USSSA starting a Nationals to compete with ASA and PGF....

[grcsftbll]

Forgive the utter TB ignorance, but how can you sign up your DD if the whole TB team is supposed to sign up? Or do I have that wrong?

What I'm talking about is the tryout for the Futures All American team. It's organized by regions, and they choose the top 24 from each region for a tournament in Orlando in August. Whole teams can try out but they don't have to. And only 24 girls from the southeast will make the teams (in each age bracket) so i doubt there's much benefit in going as a team.

 

[dadofadirtlover]

What I'm talking about is the tryout for the Futures All American team. It's organized by regions, and they choose the top 24 from each region for a tournament in Orlando in August. Whole teams can try out but they don't have to. And only 24 girls from the southeast will make the teams (in each age bracket) so i doubt there's much benefit in going as a team.

Ah. That makes sense then. Do they charge for the tryouts? I thought I saw $550 registration fee, which is why I thought it was team only.

 

[grcsftbll]

It's $140. Here's the info.

USA Elite Select

 

[dadofadirtlover]

It's $140. Here's the info.

USA Elite Select

Ahhh. I was on the wrong page. That makes sense. Hope your DD makes it.

 

[grcsftbll]

Thanks! It's not very likely - 10U girls are grouped together and she's a new 9. She's played a grand total of 5 10U tournaments. But I think it'll be worth it for the experience. She absolutely loves meeting older softball players. Once we went to a KSU game with our last team, and our girls waited outside the locker room for the players' autographs. You could see when they came out of the locker room they were not expecting to be mobbed by 8 year olds but they were fantastic! Went and got extra pens, hung out quite awhile talking to the kids and signing things and being generally awesome. We also did a fundraiser game at GSU. Watched their team play, um, I think a TN team. Got pictures and autographs, and then got to play on the GSU field afterwards. And of course, Jennie Finch camp. Peak experiences! I think this will be pretty fun too. And hey, ya never know. She's a pretty talented kid. She keeps up with the 05s no problem even being a late 06. But she's trying out as pitcher (and short stop). So, we shall see. Mostly, I just thought it sounded like a lot of fun

 

[grcsftbll]

Let's see if this works. This is the GSU team. That's mine, front & center.

 

[Momo'sDad]

There are so many associations vying for power that it makes the world of youth softball hard to sort out. Competition is good, but it makes it harder to get a clear picture of where your team or player stacks up because there are so many different roads you can take. ''We won ASA 16U nationals. What does that mean?" Or, ''We won the North Carolina Class A USSSA state title. What does that mean?" You have to be an insider to really understand what level your team is playing in the big picture. I contrast that to a sport like tennis, where you've got one organization - the USTA - and it's easy to find out how good you are relative to the rest of the world because every youth tennis player in America who might be recruited plays USTA. Heck, in the ASA, it's hard to find dates and schedules of qualifiers and nationals, much less results. Youth softball is a great big yarn knot.

It's really not that complicated at all.

Where are the strongest college programs getting their players? Which national events do those players have on their resumes?

Where do all the other college programs get their players? Which national events do those players have on their resumes?

If a player is batting .750 all over the country in various sanctions, then it's safe to say she stacks up pretty well vs the field. But she could very well be on a team that doesn't even get past the 2nd game of a PGF qualifier. Certain TB programs have excellent reputations for quality coaching and college placement, so typically, if you're into figuring out how your team stacks up, your results vs those teams will give you some idea.

But being candid, I think it's a waste of time to even care about that. Sure, some sort of national ranking might help a player to determine where she should focus her energies when it comes to trying to get recruited, but when it comes to parents, what would those comparative stats mean? A young woman who wants to play for a bigtime college program can easily research the most common pathways these days. For everyone else, the same information is pretty readily available, no matter where they want to go. Parental bragging rights in softball are laugh track material.

 

[marriard]

What I'm talking about is the tryout for the Futures All American team. It's organized by regions, and they choose the top 24 from each region for a tournament in Orlando in August. Whole teams can try out but they don't have to. And only 24 girls from the southeast will make the teams (in each age bracket) so i doubt there's much benefit in going as a team.

Note last year most of the 'west' players selected did not come to the games, so quite a number of SE girls made up the numbers. Couple of my DD friends played for one of the 'West' Teams though they live in South Florida.

 

[Elk Grove Hurricane]

Southern CA, correct? It's a little different in Northern CA. We don't have Triple Crown and PGF qualifiers are only in Salinas this year, unless they are posted somewhere that I haven't seen. The best here still line up for the ASA, but the USA Elite tourneys are definitely making strides.

USSSA has such a huge branding disadvantage out here in California that it would take a lot of cash and time to overcome and be viable. no one plays their regular tourneys and their World Series events are just local consolation prizes for teams that didn't make PGF or didn't want the hassle of going to TCS when it is out of state.

They actually have local teams that are all scholarship, no dues for the players and they still can't attract any talent and their teams are third tier.

Not saying it won't be successful but they will have to commit to a lot of losses to get some momentum going out west.

I know in the southeast it is a completely different story.

 

[SoCal_Dad]

TCS may not have anything in NorCal, however they hold at least 1 major event every year in nearby Reno/Sparks (e.g. TC/USA Nats and Western Nats).

The top NorCal teams try to play PGF. I expect some top NorCal 12U teams chose ASA last year since ASA/USA Nats were local and some top 10U teams will do likewise this year. Qualifying out west for PGF Premier is extremely difficult and marginally easier for Platinum. Teams need to be realistic when making their plans.

It's odd only 1 NorCal team appears on USAES's list of teams accepting berths and they finished 2nd in their qualifier - outside the money.